Wheeled gun-carriage.



E. BQURDELLES. WHEELED GUN CARRIAGE. APPLIGATIONIILED APR. 15, 191 a.

Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. BOURDELLES. WHEELED GUN CARRIAGE APPLICATION FILED APR. 15, 1913.

Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

B. BOURDBLLBS. WHEELED GUN CARRIAGE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 15, 1913.1,090,680, {Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

ll idli EMILE BOURDELLES, OF PARIS, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR 1'0 SCHNEIDER &($1153.; 0F PARIS,

- FRANCE, A LIMITED JOINT-STOCK CQMPANY (3F FRANCE.

WI-IEELED GUN-CARRIAGE.

incense.

Application filed April 15, 1913. Serial No, 761,258;

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EMILE Bonnnnnnns,

citizen of France, and resident of Paris,

France, have invented s ew and useful 1m rovernent in or Relatin toWVheeled l3 Gun-Carriages, which is fully set forth in the followingspecification.

This invention relates to wheeled gun cerriages.

simultaneously increasing the horizontal field of fire and the verticaliield of fire of guns on Wheeled carriages. Among other solutions it hasbeen proposed to divide the trail longitudinally into two p ts which areunited for traveling and. which can be separated at will in the field;the two semi-trails ere pivoted to the gun carriage or to the axle. Inany event it is necessary, with a. divided trail, to stay the twosemi-trails, the stey' then constitutes a cross piece which istransverse to the plane of fire and which consequently limits the fieldof vertical fire.

According to the present invention, the gun crzidle is mounted in aframe, preferably trapezoidal in shape, the shorter side of which issupported onv the axle of the Wheeled carriage in such a manner that theframe is enabled to rotate about an axis normal to the axle of thewheeled carriage, while the sides of the frame serve supports whenresting on the ground. The side of the frame opposite the supported sidecan generally be dispensed wither be con stituted by a detachable crosspiece coupl ing the extremities of the supports and forming an anchoringspade. The long" sides of the frame may be detachable or in foldingsections or telescoping one within the other, but the preferred form isin fold ed sections; In this manner a rigid frame is formed which iscompletely open end it.-

side which the gun can assume any desired inclination for verticalniming. At the same time the supporting polygon is fectly deformable. y

The invention also comprises a practical device for coupling thecarriage to the liinher the application of this device being perticularlapplicable to the improved term of carriage. This device consistsbroadly speaking of a coupling member projecting from the cradle inwhich the gun recoils.

In order that the said invention may be Various methods have beenproposed for omitted in 3 is partial cross n oie clearly understood endreadily oer ried into effect I will now proceed to describe the samemore fully with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figures1 and 2 illustrate one constructional form of the invention inlongitudinal sectional elevation and in sectional plan on the line A.- hFig. 1 respectively; the gun, the cradle and its aiming mechanism beingas section on the line B-B Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a plnn showing the devicefor coupling the carriage to the limbcr employed in combinntion with theimproved gun carriage. Fig. 5 1s a plan view of a modified constructio-nal form of the frame; Figs. 6 and '7 are sectional detailviews showing another embodiment of my invention; and Fig. 8 is a detailView showing detachable side pieces. i

In these figures adesignates the gun cerriage axle carrying the wheelsb.

In accordance with the invention illustrated in Figs 1-3, the body partof the carriage con'iprises frame c-d ie, of quadrangular form,preferably trapezoidch connected with the axle a a joint which enablesthe. frame to rotate around its longitudinal of symmetry. This joint is.represented by a pivot pin f projecting from the middle of the side 0 ofthe frame and which is journeled in a bracket hearing q formed on theaxle c. The side 0 of the frame c-d-de forms a very compact undercarriage and provided with a stoic hearing for receiving e verticaltraining; pivot g. The elevating of the gun takes place around trunnionsleeves it coaxial with :i h-it in e fork 51' formed at the upper partof the pivet gt The true nion sleeves it are carried by the cradle '5 inwhich the gen. 7' recoils. The sides Z of the frame serve as props whentheir ends rest on the ground. and may he provided with qor spades (5 maformed on spades c:

stay 6 as illustrated diagrammatically in. dcttedQines 2;

The mechanism for training and elevating be errsnged in various in theconstruction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, the elevating is efl'ected bymeans of screw m, or" the usual construction which bears at one endripen the cradle, and at the other end upon a. fork 7:. carried by thepivot g. (the training mechanism comprises a sector 3W5 pinion protating upon a projecting from 0 (Fig. 1) in the form of a rack carriedby the under carriage c and meshing with a shaft p, which is journaledin an arm g carried by the .pivot g.

It will readily be understood that the type of gun carriage. that hasbeen described eliminates the usual trail and reduces the portion of thecarriage projecting rearward of the pivot g to the minimum. In otherwords the gun can be trained through large angles at the maximumelevation. Owing to the pivotal connection of the, frame 0-dde with theaxis a, the props d can be anchored at different levels according to thenature and profile of the ground upon which the carriage rests.Furthermore, firing can take place under excellent conditions, seeingthat the connection between the carriage c and the axle (1 permits of avariable penetration of the spades into the ground without tendin tocause either of the carriage wheels to 11ft.

The elimination of the solid trail and the complete freeing of therear'of the pivot g enables the gun to be transported with its carriageby means of the special coupling device which constitutes anothercharacteristic of the invention.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 4 the limber and the gun carriage can be broughtvery close together by means of an engaging device the cradle comprise aring 7- for example, formed upon an arm 1' which is integral with thesaid cradle i and which engages on a hook carried by the limber. Inorder to facilitate the bringing together of the limber and the guncarriage for coupling together, the props d may be telescopic orfolding. With this object, these props may be divided transversely intotwo lengths connected by a hinge d as shown in Fig. 1, and upon the lefthand prop d in Fig. 2. An appropriate locking device d (Fig. 1) insuresthe rigidity of the props upon the ground during firing. For transportpurposes, the pin or locking latch d is withdrawn and the rear turnedupon the lengths of the props are.

i shorter lengths that are integral with the under carriage c as shownin Fig. 4. In this manner the gun carriage and the limber as a whole arerendered very compactand can be turned and maneuvered with the greatestease. As shown inFig. 5, the folding might also be effected by turningthe props around hinges arranged upon the inner faces parallel with theaxle. In this case the folded props may be united by a locking deviceand the rear prop might serve as an attachment to anarm or othercoupling member 1', capable of assuming the t'wo positions indicatedrespectively in full lines and in broken lines in Fig. 5.

Figs. 6 and 7 show, cross section on the line D-D of Fig. 7 and This may.by the under carriage a,

form of a frame ccZ-d presents,

respectively in partial;

in 'longitudinal'section on the line C-C of Fig. 6, another embodimentof the invention. In this second embodiment, the joint between the guncarriage frame 0-(Z(Z and the axle a, with a view to the possiblerotation of the latter around the longitudinal axis of symmetry of thesaid frame, is obtained in the following manner: Upon its upper face,the axle is recessed to form a cup in the form of the are of a circle aand the under carriage c has a suitable projection for slid ing orrolling in the cup thus formed. Inv the example illustrated, the axle ais assumed to comprise a central portion of girder formation and theunder carriage c provided with a part c which has projections 0 thatfits beneath the upper flanges of the girder. The relative displacementbetween the cup a and the parts c c'-c of the under carriage 0 isfacilitated by' the interposition, be tween the cup and the arm a ofrollers s which can be guided in one or other of these elements. Mutualguidance can be obtained ticulation is located at the center 2 of theare a, (Fig. 7).

In both the constructional forms describedfthe; articulation between theframe cdcl and the axle a, instead of being obtained by means of amovable in a female member formed on the axle, might be obtained by theinverse means, that is to say a projection might beprovided on the axleand oscillate in a cup or socket formed on the under carriage c. Itshould also be particularlv noted that the gun carriage in the in thefiring position, perfect rigidity which facilitates the organization of-the "aiming mechanisms and considerably reduces the strain on the partsof these mechanisms (111I ing firing.

The articulation between the frame and the axle, the utility of whichduring firing has been set forth above, can' be locked at will duringtransport by means of an apropriate male member carried means of pinionst carried by the'rollers and rolling on teeth a formed in the cup a a01t Wlll be noted that the virtual axiso'l' armeans of an angularlydisplaced stud; the-- other an engaging or lockin position, indicated inthe drawing, the bolt then being housed in the staple w formed in theunderv carriage c.

The props with the under carriage c,

d instead of being integral might. of course be rendered completelydetachable, as shown for example in Fig. 8, a connection by tenon d andmortise 0 for example, being maintained for the firing position by meansof pins 3 The detachable props 03 might then be connected andtransported separately, or lifted in some suitable 1113.11 ncr upon thegun or upon the 0 adds.

In certain cases, the transport of the piece (the gun, the cradle andthe carriage) might be effected by coupling with a limber the muzzle ofthe gun which is provided for this purpose with a coupling member suchas a ring, hook or the like engaging in a corresponding member by thetimber.

What I claim as my invention and desire 4 to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States is g 1. In a wheeled gun carriage, a gun or un cradlesu J ortin frame comrisin ab P a,

supporting member articulated to the axle of the carriage and adapted torotate about a line normal to said axle, and prop members, secured tosaid gun supporting member and adapted to be diver-gently extendedrearwardly into firing position and to be folded up into transportingposition.

In a wheeled gun carriage, a gun or gun cradle supporting framecomprising a supporting member articulated to the axle of the carriageand adapted to rotate about -an axis normal to said axle, and propshinged to said support adapted to swing rearwardly into firing positionand to fold for 'ardly into transporting position.

3. In a wheeled gun carriage, a gun or gun cradle supporting framecomprising a supporting member articulated to the axle of the carriageand adapted to rotate about an axis normal to said axle, props hinged tosaid support adapted to swing rearti ardly into firing po tion and tofold forwardly provided with means for connecti i V l into. Lransportiposition, and means for locking said prop: firing position.

i. In a Wheeled p supporting frame and a, gun cradle supported thereon,said frame comprising a gun cradle supporting member articulated to saidaxle and adapted to rotate'about an axis normal to said axle, propshinged to said supporting member adapted toswfn'g into tiring positionand fold forwardly into transporting position, and means on said cradlebetween said props for attaching the cradle to a limber.

In a wheeled gun carriage, the combination of a pair of wheels and an/axle in which is located a socket normal to the l'e'igth of the axle, agun supporting frame a gun carriage, a gun cradle harin rcarwardlvtXtQIltllIl" arms :tormin w h a 3.: an

props for the frame, and a cross member having a pivot fitting saidsocket and a so ket for receiving a training pivot.

ing witnesses.

EMILE BOURDELLES. \Vitnesses HENRI EIOBIXO, Haas-0N C.

